Chapter 3880 — Challenging Xiao Che

"Uh... all right." Meng Zhou shrank back a little against his will. Meng Jueming had spoken with perfect confidence, but the one going up to face her was Meng Zhou himself. If this woman was utterly without scruples, wouldn't he be beaten to death on the spot?

Before everyone's eyes, Murong Zhen walked gracefully onto the stage. Watching this beauty take the platform first in every round of the newcomer challenge had already become a tradition among the newcomers of Azure Cloud Pavilion—over a month now, without a single exception.

Murong Zhen's pair of alluring peach-blossom eyes swept slowly across every face below the stage. When they reached Meng Jueming and Wei Zhao in particular, they paused for a moment, full of meaning, and only once she had stirred every heart present did she slowly speak.

"Honored referee, Murong Zhen of Cave Dwelling No. 5 on the mountain below challenges Cave Dwelling No. 3 on the mountain below—Xiao Che!" Murong Zhen smiled flirtatiously, her gaze settling at last on Xiao Che, and she even cast him a seductive wink.

The moment the words fell, the whole hall erupted in an uproar.

Just where Murong Zhen's allegiances lay concerned not only Meng Jueming and Wei Zhao but the other newcomers as well—though they were hardly able to divine the woman's intentions as early as the two of them had.

Skipping over Meng Zhou, challenging Xiao Che!

Meng Jueming instantly breathed a sigh of relief. This move of Murong Zhen's was beyond doubt a show of goodwill toward him. It did not mean the woman would throw in her lot with him from then on, but at least this gesture made one thing certain: the one Murong Zhen wanted to deal with now was Wei Zhao, not Meng Jueming.

"The woman knows which side her bread is buttered on!" Meng Jueming smiled smugly. Murong Zhen's earlier poaching of his people had infuriated him, but so long as she went after Wei Zhao's faction, she was a natural ally—someone to court, someone to use.

"More than just knowing which side her bread is buttered on, Ninth Cousin—this fair Murong is actually on our side!" Meng Zhou chuckled.

Excellent. Not only would he avoid having to grit his teeth and step into the ring against Murong Zhen, but he could now savor visions of a bright future. Since they were all on the same side, surely this wanton woman wouldn't mind letting Meng Zhou taste a little sweetness?

Under all those watchful eyes, Xiao Che, whom Murong Zhen had named, showed no particular surprise. After exchanging a glance with Wei Zhao and the others, he simply strode up onto the stage.

"Pray, instruct me!" Xiao Che cupped his fist and saluted Murong Zhen, his expression composed and calm, not a trace of panic about him.

At the sight, Murong Zhen could not help but laugh coyly. "Brother Xiao Che has such flair—I never noticed it before."

Xiao Che had always belonged to that sort who conceal their depths. Even though everyone knew he was Wei Zhao's capable subordinate, a man whose strength was not to be underestimated, few ever fixed their focus on him; it was hot-blooded types like Qiao Hongcai who more easily drew the eye.

Ever since coming to the Welcome Newcomer Pavilion, Murong Zhen had been observing everyone high and low. Wei Zhao was first on her list, and his subordinate Xiao Che was not spared either—only before, she had always thought the man unremarkable. Now that he truly stood across from her on the stage, she suddenly realized he was anything but simple.

With only early-stage Foundation Establishment cultivation, facing her—a peak expert of early-stage Foundation Establishment—he could still maintain such composure and ease. How could such a man be a creature content to dwell in a pond? Even if his leader Wei Zhao came in person, he would at best be no more than this. She truly could not fathom how a thing like him had so readily attached himself to Wei Zhao!

"Brother Xiao Che, after we finish here, would you care to come to my wooden cottage for a tea gathering? For your sake, I would sweep the couch and wait for you!" Murong Zhen tempted him, her eyes like rippling waves.

Below the stage, the crowd swallowed hard with envy. When Murong Zhen had spoken to them before, she had never used such earnest words as "sweep the couch and wait." Even the two who had dared to attend her gathering had gotten no more than an eyeful—laying hands on her had been out of the question.

But now that Murong Zhen said this openly, did it not mean that this ripe, luscious blossom was about to fall onto Xiao Che, that silent lump of cow dung?

"Hey, if I were Xiao Che, I'd agree first and talk later—a free bargain is not to be passed up! Isn't that right, Leader?" Qiao Hongcai joked to Wei Zhao with a grin.

Wei Zhao could not help laughing. "Right your head! This is a man-eating flower—what free bargain? By the time you taste the sweetness, you'll already be meat in her mouth. Walking away unscathed is nothing but wishful thinking."

"Tsk tsk, truly a terrifying viper of a woman!" Qiao Hongcai shrank his neck at the words, then turned and looked expectantly at the stage. "I'm rather curious to see how Xiao Che, that quiet gourd, reacts—maybe he's a smoldering one underneath too!"

"Then let's watch." Wei Zhao smiled faintly, not in the least worried about Murong Zhen's seduction. If Xiao Che were the sort to lose his head so easily, he could never have risen out of the brutal competition of the secular world.

Faced with Murong Zhen's utterly undisguised temptation—one might even call it brazen seduction—Xiao Che's face actually reddened a little, with a fair measure of a young boy's shyness.

"Oh my, Brother Xiao Che is actually blushing—how adorable!" Murong Zhen's eyes lit up at once. In all her years navigating the world of pleasure, she had never seen a cultivator who blushed just from a couple of casual teasing words. How rare indeed.

Xiao Che's blush was a novelty not only to Murong Zhen; even Wei Zhao and the others below the stage were stunned, exchanging looks of disbelief: no way—blushing at a single teasing remark? Had this brother truly grown to this age without ever properly courting a woman? He was far too honest!

As for Meng Zhou and the rest, they burst into wanton laughter. Had this fellow lived this long without ever being with a woman? How hilarious! An early-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator who had never even touched a woman—what a spectacularly failed existence!

And Meng Jueming, for his part, raked his greedy eyes hard over Murong Zhen's notable features. This woman was a wanton through and through!

After a moment, Xiao Che's complexion returned to normal, and he said with some embarrassment, "Miss Murong, I have no interest in the wooden cottage tea gathering. If there's nothing else, let us begin as soon as possible."

"No interest in the tea gathering, you say—then that means you're interested in my sweeping the couch and waiting for you? I never thought Brother Xiao Che was a smoldering one underneath, but I like it!" Murong Zhen laughed behind her hand.